Chapter 14: One
[the beginning]
It had happened in the blink of an eye. As Sue threw herself over the side, oblivious to everything but ending her own life, Hound rushed to stop her, but he was too slow-his fingers barely touched the heel of her shoe as her body tumbled headlong over the side of the building.
Worse than that, he lost his grip on the girl and, in her fear, she too lost her balance and fell over the side, moments after her mother. The shock of seeing the last moments of their lives nearly made his heart stop.
"Sue!" he cried, the blood draining from his face to watch their limp bodies crash to the ground in a horrible splatter. Even as tears welled in Hound's eyes, onlookers gathered around the corpses, shouting numbers and screaming and why was his whole world shattering in an instant-
He tore down the hallway to the lift, pushing the buttons in a frenzy and failing to comprehend why nothing was happening. It infuriated him to be trapped by his ignorance, not understanding how this strange world operated, not understanding why-why-fate seemed so determined to keep taking his family away out from under his nose.
Angry, he kicked the door of the lift, then he ran to the next door he saw and kicked it as well, then the next, then the next-
The door swung open with a thud, then closed sharply. Hound realized he had kicked a bar across the center of the door. Pushing it, he opened the door again, finding behind the door a single set of stairs going all the way down. He flew down the stairs as fast as his feet would carry him, meeting another door at the bottom that led into the courtyard.
"Sue!" he shouted, racing toward the crowd.
"Hold it, buddy," a man said, stopping him from continuing. "This is a crime scene, you can't-"
"That's my wife and child! Please, let me through!"
"We have a trained paramedic looking at them now, but otherwise, you can't disturb the crime scene! I'm sorry, sir, but you can't pass yet."
Behind them, Reg walked up in a huff. "What is the meaning of this?" he shouted, oblivious to Hound's pain. "You! What happened? Is this your doing? Are you trying to destroy us with this-"
"Please," he begged, mustering all his willpower not to lash out at the man in anger. "I have no quarrel with you! I don't know or understand what fight you had with Sue, but it's over! My wife and child are dead from a terrible accident, and unless you can cheat death and bring them back, all I wish is for a peaceful burial for them."
Through his rage, Reg seemed to have a sting of guilt, and slowly he lowered his guard. "...I apologize," he muttered, trembling. "This must be even harder for you than it is for me, being thrust into a foreign country only to have your loved ones die before your eyes."
"What kind of father are you, anyway, to treat your daughter like a disease-ridden beggar? All she asked was for a little support! She may have asked for a lot, but she loved you, and that should have been enough reason to love her back!"
"Now, see here," he snapped, "if you mean to squeeze money out of me by-"
"I don't care about money! Money got me into this mess! All I wanted was to please the one woman in my life who made me happy!"
"...I see."
Hound was barely listening to the man, mourning over the only two in his life whose deepest love he had known. It was only with the healer's pronouncing each "dead at the scene" that he was allowed to approach them, to touch their hands and, with the deepest feeling of despair, know that their warmth was gone forever.
Though the crowd eventually dispersed, Reg remained at Hound's side, occasionally speaking with other people who approached. For what reason Reg continued to try to console him with empty words, Hound didn't know. He wished the man would just shut up and leave him alone, but at the same time, they had shared a loss, however unequally. His subconscious picked up phrases like "security says they have surveillance proof it was an accident" and "could sue you for killing my granddaughter through negligence" and "do whatever it takes to avoid making a public spectacle" and things like that, nonsensical words that did nothing at all to ease his suffering.
"All I want," he whispered, his heart welling with pain, "is to go home, with my wife and daughter."
Reg must have heard this, because he became silent. After a pause, he awkwardly patted Hound on the shoulder. "I can have them cremated, if you would like. It will be easier for you to take them back to Thadliste Serif by yourself that way, and you will be free to do whatever you want from there."
"Cremation?" Hound asked, almost inaudible as he spoke.
"Oh... sorry. It means we'll burn their bodies, like on a pyre, and put the remaining ashes in an urn. It's less expensive than burial, and it's better for nature as well. Is that okay with you?"
"...may I watch?"
He nodded. "If it will be a comfort to you."
It wouldn't be, not the way things happened, not the way things were going. However, he couldn't bear to be away from them.
"The bodies will be ready for cremation tomorrow at the earliest. In light of this, I ask that you stay at my house tonight, to ensure I can get you to the crematorium."
"I don't want to leave them!" he whimpered.
"Look, er..."
"Hound."
"Ah," Reg mused. "Hound, our laws here require proper funerary procedure for burial or cremation. It's not a long process, but it's nothing you'd want to see, either. It would be better if you got some rest and time to grieve, away from prying eyes."
"...alright."
"I know it's a feeble gesture at this point. You wanted a new life, and I wanted no part of it. Now we're both paying for my selfishness."
Hound really didn't want to stay with the man who drove his wife to kill herself, but he could sense his sincerity and bit his tongue long enough to listen to what he had to say.
"You asked me what kind of father I was to treat my daughter like a disease-ridden beggar," Reg offered, swallowing hard. "I'll tell you what kind. Sue's mother was a scheming woman, always up to something. She worked a lot of con jobs behind my back, and I found out about it only after I caught her with a man named Basil. When we divorced, I fought for custody of Sue, but her mother won, and I was left to scrape together the shattered remains of my life. I nearly lost control of the company as a result of the divorce, and many of the shareholders still question my ability to lead, even after spending over twenty years trying to regain their trust.
"It was only after meeting my current wife that everything seemed to fall into place. I was happy again. I had a son, and the company was taking off. As I said, though, in the last few years, trends have started to decline, and it's been a mess trying to keep the company out of the red. Every little thing that threatened to ruin things set me on edge, and your timing couldn't have been worse. Publicly, handing out money to a long-lost daughter and her family not only might have sparked the controversy of where she had been and why was she coming out now, but it would also have disrupted the dynamic I have with my own family even in some small way."
"I don't understand."
Reg looked concerned. "What don't you understand?"
"You... 'divorced' your wife?"
"Divorce is acceptable here, Hound. In terms of the government, I am not bound to my wife 'until death do us part' if we divorce. In my case, that's good, because being married to such a morally-questionable woman as my ex would have ill effects on my family and work. I realize your faith does not subscribe to divorce the way we do, but that is how our countries differ. While your faith may believe in marriage before all else, our country accepts that sometimes some people make bad decisions and it would be less painful for everyone involved if they could undo a bad marriage rather than stay in it, or wait for death to 'do us part.'
"In either case, my current wife knows of my past and accepts it for what it is. However, my son has only known life as an only child-in fact, he doesn't want siblings in his life. I raised him to empower himself and own his own accomplishments and failures, rather than rely on others for every little thing. He has been very competitive his entire life, and for Sue to come back into mine would be a threat in his eyes, regardless of my own feelings in the matter.
"I hope you understand that-behind my cruel exterior-I didn't mean your family harm, but neither you nor I could have foreseen that Sue would have behaved in the way she did. If I had known she was that unstable, I would gladly have given all three of you whatever you needed, no matter the cost. Anything would have been less costly than this."
They were small words, giving small comfort. Still, he was right, and there was no way Hound could blame him for what, in the end, was a lifetime of unfortunate circumstances-two lifetimes, make that. It shamed him to have been so helpless as to lose two wives, and a daughter by his own hand.
"My one joy," he told Reg, "was that I got to know her. That you understand my situation and are willing to help at all is more than I could ever ask for."
"I'm just sorry this couldn't have worked out for the better."
"That makes both of us."
It had happened in the blink of an eye. As Sue threw herself over the side, oblivious to everything but ending her own life, Hound rushed to stop her, but he was too slow-his fingers barely touched the heel of her shoe as her body tumbled headlong over the side of the building.
Worse than that, he lost his grip on the girl and, in her fear, she too lost her balance and fell over the side, moments after her mother. The shock of seeing the last moments of their lives nearly made his heart stop.
"Sue!" he cried, the blood draining from his face to watch their limp bodies crash to the ground in a horrible splatter. Even as tears welled in Hound's eyes, onlookers gathered around the corpses, shouting numbers and screaming and why was his whole world shattering in an instant-
He tore down the hallway to the lift, pushing the buttons in a frenzy and failing to comprehend why nothing was happening. It infuriated him to be trapped by his ignorance, not understanding how this strange world operated, not understanding why-why-fate seemed so determined to keep taking his family away out from under his nose.
Angry, he kicked the door of the lift, then he ran to the next door he saw and kicked it as well, then the next, then the next-
The door swung open with a thud, then closed sharply. Hound realized he had kicked a bar across the center of the door. Pushing it, he opened the door again, finding behind the door a single set of stairs going all the way down. He flew down the stairs as fast as his feet would carry him, meeting another door at the bottom that led into the courtyard.
"Sue!" he shouted, racing toward the crowd.
"Hold it, buddy," a man said, stopping him from continuing. "This is a crime scene, you can't-"
"That's my wife and child! Please, let me through!"
"We have a trained paramedic looking at them now, but otherwise, you can't disturb the crime scene! I'm sorry, sir, but you can't pass yet."
Behind them, Reg walked up in a huff. "What is the meaning of this?" he shouted, oblivious to Hound's pain. "You! What happened? Is this your doing? Are you trying to destroy us with this-"
"Please," he begged, mustering all his willpower not to lash out at the man in anger. "I have no quarrel with you! I don't know or understand what fight you had with Sue, but it's over! My wife and child are dead from a terrible accident, and unless you can cheat death and bring them back, all I wish is for a peaceful burial for them."
Through his rage, Reg seemed to have a sting of guilt, and slowly he lowered his guard. "...I apologize," he muttered, trembling. "This must be even harder for you than it is for me, being thrust into a foreign country only to have your loved ones die before your eyes."
"What kind of father are you, anyway, to treat your daughter like a disease-ridden beggar? All she asked was for a little support! She may have asked for a lot, but she loved you, and that should have been enough reason to love her back!"
"Now, see here," he snapped, "if you mean to squeeze money out of me by-"
"I don't care about money! Money got me into this mess! All I wanted was to please the one woman in my life who made me happy!"
"...I see."
Hound was barely listening to the man, mourning over the only two in his life whose deepest love he had known. It was only with the healer's pronouncing each "dead at the scene" that he was allowed to approach them, to touch their hands and, with the deepest feeling of despair, know that their warmth was gone forever.
Though the crowd eventually dispersed, Reg remained at Hound's side, occasionally speaking with other people who approached. For what reason Reg continued to try to console him with empty words, Hound didn't know. He wished the man would just shut up and leave him alone, but at the same time, they had shared a loss, however unequally. His subconscious picked up phrases like "security says they have surveillance proof it was an accident" and "could sue you for killing my granddaughter through negligence" and "do whatever it takes to avoid making a public spectacle" and things like that, nonsensical words that did nothing at all to ease his suffering.
"All I want," he whispered, his heart welling with pain, "is to go home, with my wife and daughter."
Reg must have heard this, because he became silent. After a pause, he awkwardly patted Hound on the shoulder. "I can have them cremated, if you would like. It will be easier for you to take them back to Thadliste Serif by yourself that way, and you will be free to do whatever you want from there."
"Cremation?" Hound asked, almost inaudible as he spoke.
"Oh... sorry. It means we'll burn their bodies, like on a pyre, and put the remaining ashes in an urn. It's less expensive than burial, and it's better for nature as well. Is that okay with you?"
"...may I watch?"
He nodded. "If it will be a comfort to you."
It wouldn't be, not the way things happened, not the way things were going. However, he couldn't bear to be away from them.
"The bodies will be ready for cremation tomorrow at the earliest. In light of this, I ask that you stay at my house tonight, to ensure I can get you to the crematorium."
"I don't want to leave them!" he whimpered.
"Look, er..."
"Hound."
"Ah," Reg mused. "Hound, our laws here require proper funerary procedure for burial or cremation. It's not a long process, but it's nothing you'd want to see, either. It would be better if you got some rest and time to grieve, away from prying eyes."
"...alright."
"I know it's a feeble gesture at this point. You wanted a new life, and I wanted no part of it. Now we're both paying for my selfishness."
Hound really didn't want to stay with the man who drove his wife to kill herself, but he could sense his sincerity and bit his tongue long enough to listen to what he had to say.
"You asked me what kind of father I was to treat my daughter like a disease-ridden beggar," Reg offered, swallowing hard. "I'll tell you what kind. Sue's mother was a scheming woman, always up to something. She worked a lot of con jobs behind my back, and I found out about it only after I caught her with a man named Basil. When we divorced, I fought for custody of Sue, but her mother won, and I was left to scrape together the shattered remains of my life. I nearly lost control of the company as a result of the divorce, and many of the shareholders still question my ability to lead, even after spending over twenty years trying to regain their trust.
"It was only after meeting my current wife that everything seemed to fall into place. I was happy again. I had a son, and the company was taking off. As I said, though, in the last few years, trends have started to decline, and it's been a mess trying to keep the company out of the red. Every little thing that threatened to ruin things set me on edge, and your timing couldn't have been worse. Publicly, handing out money to a long-lost daughter and her family not only might have sparked the controversy of where she had been and why was she coming out now, but it would also have disrupted the dynamic I have with my own family even in some small way."
"I don't understand."
Reg looked concerned. "What don't you understand?"
"You... 'divorced' your wife?"
"Divorce is acceptable here, Hound. In terms of the government, I am not bound to my wife 'until death do us part' if we divorce. In my case, that's good, because being married to such a morally-questionable woman as my ex would have ill effects on my family and work. I realize your faith does not subscribe to divorce the way we do, but that is how our countries differ. While your faith may believe in marriage before all else, our country accepts that sometimes some people make bad decisions and it would be less painful for everyone involved if they could undo a bad marriage rather than stay in it, or wait for death to 'do us part.'
"In either case, my current wife knows of my past and accepts it for what it is. However, my son has only known life as an only child-in fact, he doesn't want siblings in his life. I raised him to empower himself and own his own accomplishments and failures, rather than rely on others for every little thing. He has been very competitive his entire life, and for Sue to come back into mine would be a threat in his eyes, regardless of my own feelings in the matter.
"I hope you understand that-behind my cruel exterior-I didn't mean your family harm, but neither you nor I could have foreseen that Sue would have behaved in the way she did. If I had known she was that unstable, I would gladly have given all three of you whatever you needed, no matter the cost. Anything would have been less costly than this."
They were small words, giving small comfort. Still, he was right, and there was no way Hound could blame him for what, in the end, was a lifetime of unfortunate circumstances-two lifetimes, make that. It shamed him to have been so helpless as to lose two wives, and a daughter by his own hand.
"My one joy," he told Reg, "was that I got to know her. That you understand my situation and are willing to help at all is more than I could ever ask for."
"I'm just sorry this couldn't have worked out for the better."
"That makes both of us."